On occasion it is desired to provide mating connector halves that are mounted to separate articles and that become mated to each other to complete one or more electrical circuits, upon the movement of the separate articles with respect to each other. U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,456 is representative of an arrangement where one connector is mounted to a transverse panel or other framework in a cutout therethrough, and the other connector is mounted to a transverse leading end of a rack or drawer movable toward and to the panel whereupon the connectors enter into a mated relationship; the connector housings are provided with a cooperating set of alignment posts and apertures such that one of the connectors which is float mounted may adjust its position incrementally transversely thus accurately aligning its array of contacts with the contact array of the other connector which is fixedly mounted.
Switches are occasionally needed to detect the movement of two articles to a particular position with respect to each other, from another particular position. For example, it may be desired to provide an apparatus of at least two parts movable with respect to each other from a first position to a second position, and to assure that the parts have been moved completely along a predetermined path to the second position. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,258 a connector assembly includes in one of its connectors an electrical shunt between two of the several contacts therein defining a closed loop indicative of an unmated condition, and the other connector includes a dielectric post which engages the shunt upon connector mating and deflects it out of engagement with the two contacts breaking the closed loop circuit and is indicative of a fully mated condition.
It is desired to provide a matable electrical connector assembly wherein the mating halves are mounted to respective parts of an apparatus, aligned with each other in spaced apart relationship when the apparatus parts are in a first position.
It is further desired to provide such a connector arrangement wherein one of the connector halves is secured to a surface of one of the parts, and the other connector half is secured to an opposed adjacent surface of the other part, with the surfaces generally parallel to the direction of relative movement of the parts such that when the parts are moved from the first position to the second position with the surfaces moved slidably along and near or against each other.
It is also desired to provide low profile connector halves that mate at a mating interface of minimal height, enabling the parts to comprise a minimized thickness and serve as thin-walled panels or shells, including nested cylinders assembled in a manner permitting relative rotation between first and second positions of inner and outer cylinders.